After 3 rounds, there were still 7 players from Team USA on a perfect score (3.0/3.0). Three of those perfect scores are in my section, Samuel Sevian, Jeffery Xiong, and myself. Here my Dad snapped a quick picture of the three of us with Jeffery's Dad.
One of the cool things about this tournament is you get to meet kids from all over the world who share a common interest. Even though I can't speak with some of them, we can still play chess together. My first round opponent, Carlos Sandoval Mercado from Mexico is very friendly and always wants to take pictures with me. I'm sure we will be seeing him at other tournaments in the future.
We knew it was going to happen sooner or later. With only 12 perfect scores in the section after round 3, a USA vs. USA matchup was imminent. In round 4, I got paired with the talented Jeffery Xiong from Dallas, TX with a sky high rating of 2162 (USCF). Jeffery and I have only played one other time online and I knew this was going to be a tough fight. My preparation was good, and I got a winning position out of the opening and early middlegame, but Jeffery played better in the late middlegame and I was suddenly in a losing position. In the end, we wound up drawing the match and both have a score of (3.5/4.0). That puts us into a 6-way tie for 4th place.
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